Former Rep. Carnevale charged with perjury, filing false documents

Friday

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Former state Rep. John Carnevale pleaded not guilty to three counts of perjury and one count of filing false documents Friday morning in Providence Superior Court.

PROVIDENCE — When questions arose this summer if John Carnevale actually lived in the district he represented, the now former state representative raised his hand before the city Board of Canvassers and swore to tell the truth.

He described an unusual arrangement where he slept in the basement of his supposedly primary residence at 150 Barbara St. (he rented out the other floors), but “the ground level is where I use the facilities,” he said. “I walk up a small staircase and I use the facilities, the bathroom, for instance.”

The board didn’t accept his claims and neither now has a state grand jury, which on Friday handed up an indictment charging him with three felony counts of perjury before the Board of Canvassers, including his statement regarding “his use of the first floor apartment.”

The two other counts allege that Carnevale — a retired Providence police officer and former vice chairman of the House Finance Committee — knowingly made false statements about his Providence residence for voting purposes, and about earning rental income on a second home he owns in Johnston.

Escorted into Superior Court Friday in handcuffs, Carnevale, 55, pleaded not guilty to those three perjury charges and a fourth charge, a misdemeanor, alleging he filed a false document with the city to take advantage of a property tax break.

Carnevale, who turned himself in to state police on Thursday afternoon and spent the night behind bars at the Scituate headquarters, was released on his own recognizance pending a Feb. 23 court appearance.

He had no comment leaving the courthouse. His lawyer, Peter J. Petrarca, a former state representative, said his client had "no reaction,” to the charges. “But he doesn't understand why he was held overnight and why this couldn't have been handled in the morning."

Petrarca said the only reason the state police handled his arrest the way it did was for "embarrassment, and I agree with him totally."

Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin, who served with Carnevale in the House and who witnessed the arraignment, said Carnevale was the subject of a secret grand jury investigation and was treated no differently by state police investigators than any other criminal suspect.

"I am adamant about treating everyone the same and that's exactly what happened in this case," Kilmartin said.

By law, state representatives must live in the districts they represent. That requirement, Kilmartin said, goes to the “core of public trust.”

“I served with John Carnevale…And one of the mantras that always came out of the Rhode Island House specifically was, we are the people’s house. Well, in making that declaration, we are saying we represent the people. The people are entrusting us with that office. And as I said, these allegations [if proven] violate that trust.”

Kilmartin said, “I never enjoy prosecuting a former colleague. But the reality is I got elected, too, to the public trust. And when someone else violates it, whether I know them or not, I have the duty to proceed and we did."

The frequency of public corruption cases no doubt "contributes to the cynicism of some Rhode Islanders,” Kilmartin said. “That being said, look at the other side of it...That if something comes to light it will be investigated and properly prosecuted…”

The state police investigation followed a report by WPRI-TV in June that suggested Carnevale actually lived in the Johnston house he owned and not the Providence house on Barbara Street.

The station’s report included now infamous footage of Carnevale trying to disguise himself by masking his face with a T-shirt after he spotted the video camera.

In July the Providence Board of Canvassers voted to deny Carnevale the right to vote from his registered city address, noting inconsistencies in the evidence before them. Soon thereafter Carnevale announced he would not seek a fifth term to his District 13 seat.

His arraignment Friday was not his first encounter with the law.

In October 2011 a grand jury indicted him on one count each of first- and second-degree sexual assault after a Johnston woman accused him of raping her in her Johnston apartment. The woman had known Carnevale for years through her ex-husband, who worked with Carnevale as Providence police officers.

Carnevale denied the allegation. Three months later, in January 2012, the state dropped the charges after his accuser suddenly died of blood clots in her lungs.

The three perjury charges Carnevale now faces each carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

PHOTO: John Carnevale in handcuffs just arrived at Superior Court for his arraignment. @wpri12 pic.twitter.com/aiNKEEzHCm

— Johnny Villella (@JohnnyVillella) January 13, 2017

-- This report was updated at 7 p.m.

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